Rai
by dreams-of-pleasure
Summary: They came to the Order with their own secret ambitions, becoming exorcists to serve a dual purpose. When they are at the end of their journey, the twins must become stronger than ever to survive a face-off with the long searched for enemy.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the first co-write that's posted on this account, courtesy of my partner in crime (Nikii), and myself (Tori). I will be writing as Roan and Nikii as Skye. Hope you all enjoy!

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"You're awfully slow today, Roan," my sister called down to me from her position on the side of the cliff we were climbing.

"Just taking in the view," I responded sarcastically, searching for another handhold to pull myself up with.

"But seriously, who in their right mind builds a castle on top of a cliff?" Her voice sounded further away this time around. A cry of triumph followed soon after as she finally made to the top. "Whoa," she gasped in amazement and I sped up the last few feet of the cliff to see what caused the statement.

The sight of the Black Order's Headquarters was enough to make my mouth drop. It was basically single, gigantic tower than seemingly spanned up into the heavens. The entrance to the castle was next to a wall shaped like a giant stone face; there was no other way to explain it.

"Where the heck are you supposed to knock?" Skye enquired as we moved closer to the gate. Before I could even begin to think of an answer, one presented itself to us, and it practically scared both my sister and me senseless. In fact, Skye took the liberty of using me as a human shield when the stone face of the entrance actually came to life and extended its face out to where it was barely a few inches away from mine.

"X-Ray Inspection!" it roared all of a sudden before two blinding beams of light came out of its eyes and moved up and down the length of my body. I just remained still, not wanting to do anything that could potentially piss this thing off. Skye remained conveniently behind my person the entire time.

"X-Ray Inspection completed. No sign of Akuma." And then it retreated back into the surface of the castle.

"You're still alive, so everything must be ok," Skye said, patting me lightly on the back. "Thanks for protecting me, bro."

"Is that what you call it? I thought it was called being made an unknowing sacrifice." She laughed good-naturedly, a light tinkling sound that always seemed to pull a grin onto my face no matter how hard I tried to fight it.

Eventually our attention was diverted again as the entrance gate to the castle rumbled open, and a teenage male with shockingly white hair and icy blue eyes came out to greet us. "You must be the twins that General Klaud said she'd be sending. I'm Allen Walker-"

He stopped mid-sentence, mildly confused. Who wouldn't be confused if a random stranger walked up to them and started swishing their hair around like it was the most amusing and interesting thing in the world?

"Wow! Your hair is actually white!" Skye exclaimed as she continuously batted his hair left and right, examining it closely as if she just couldn't comprehend why it was that color. "How… how you doin' that?"

Swish.

"How do you keep it so bright?"

Swish, swish.

"Is it bleached?"

"That's enough, Skye," I said, grabbing her by both arms so as to stop her attack on the poor boy's head. "You'll have to forgive my sister. She has a great tendency to be very random at the most inopportune times."

"N-Not a problem," he responded as he laughed slightly and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "If you would follow me inside…"

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	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Another chapter from Roan. Enjoy!

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The inside of the Headquarters was just as impressive as the outside. Each level of the castle had living quarters set aside for each individual exorcist, as well as various training rooms and classrooms. Every level had a similar setup, and I figured that it was probably very easy to get lost in here. I said as much and Allen simply shrugged and responded casually, "It just takes a little getting used to."

"He's such a modest and humble person," Skye sighed dreamily before wrapping her arms around him in a hug that caught the poor guy completely unawares. He just kind of patted her awkwardly on the head while I worked to remove her death grip from around him, and we were finally able to continue.

We got a chance to meet the chef of the HQ, Jerry. Apparently he was able to cook anything you wanted to eat and have it ready in a jiffy. "Since you're both parasitic types like me," Allen started, "you probably go through a mountain-sized stack of food like it's nothing, so I figured you'd appreciate knowing what an amazing cook Jerry is."

The science department was very extraordinary as well with all its cool looking gadgets and electronics, and it struck me as odd that Allen warned us to stay away from there unless it was absolutely necessary to go near it. "The scientists seem friendly enough," I said, bewildered. Skye was just as lost as I was about the whole situation and shrugged.

"You will thank me later," was Allen's only response as we moved on.

Allen then dropped us off to meet the supervisor of the science department who also doubled as the chief officer of the entire organization. Needless to say, the man was a complete goofball the majority of the time, and he was constantly fawning over his younger sister who was an exorcist. The floor of his office was beyond littered with various important looking papers, and there were a few scientists lined up beside his desk holding enormous stacks of even more paper.

"Supervisor," the foremost in the line began agitatedly, "please stop faking like you're on the phone and start on this paperwork."

"Reever, you're so uncaring! Such slave drivers of underlings I have!" the supervisor responded, swooning over-dramatically. Then he finally spotted us. "Ah, the new exorcists, if I am not mistaken," he said, abruptly adopting a more serious demeanor. He removed himself from his desk, much to the dismay of the lined up scientists, and led us to a pair of empty examination rooms. "I will be with you shortly," I could hear him call to my sister in a sing-song voice before he came into the room I was in and shut the door. "General Klaud seems to have been taking good care of you both," he stated after he finished doing a thorough check-up. He then asked me to remove my shirt so that he could closely examine the tribal-like markings covering the majority of my back that made up my Innocence.

"Yeah," I responded. "Even though she was borderline brutal with her training at times, she kept us in one piece and in good condition."

He chuckled agreeably. "That sounds like General Klaud. She picked you both up from Canberra, right?"

I nodded as I re-buttoned my shirt. "What's left of it, anyway. It was just about four years ago when that massive Akuma attack wiped out our home town. We stayed with General Klaud during her travels and received a good deal of hands on instruction and first-hand experience."

The supervisor nodded solemnly before tapping his clipboard with a sense of finality. "Well everything seems to be in order as far as your physical health is concerned. I'll have someone take you down to meet Hevlaska while I perform the examination on Skye."

"Who's Hevlaska?" I asked.

"Just another exorcist," he answered in a way that made me immediately suspicious of the fact that he was leaving out something important, but he disappeared into the next room before I could further question him.

My suspicion was confirmed when I finally met Hevlaska. To say that she was intimidating was a major understatement, and I pretty much had a panic attack when she suddenly suspended me in the air and began to probe me with her tentacles. "What's going on?" I called down to the scientist waiting on the platform.

"I am Hevlaska," the bizarre looking exorcist answered instead. "I am the Guardian of the Cube and have been part of the Order since its establishment."

I suddenly felt her presence more clearly than before; I knew that she had made contact with my innocence when a huge wave of calmness washed through my body and I could kind of feel her communicating with the fragment.

"Synchronization rate… ninety-three percent," was all she said before setting me back down. I could barely stand; my legs were trembling so badly. The scientist who brought me down there patted me consolingly on the back as the lift began to rise back up at a steady rate and by the time it reached the top I was able to stand up, albeit shakily. He then led me to my quarters, informing me that my sister would be staying in the room to the right of mine before departing.

The room itself was kind of small and sparsely decorated, with just enough space to house a bed, a nightstand, and a dresser. A pair uniforms were folded neatly on top of the bed, the silver insignia of the order gleaming lightly in the dim lighting of the room. There was a window adjacent to the door of the room, with a view overlooking the edges of the cliff that we managed to climb up earlier that day. I leaned against the window sill, not really seeing anything as my mind began to wander back into the past.

It had been four long years since the incident had occurred. Even though so long of a time had lapsed, the pain was still as fresh as the day it had happened. I was glad to have finally made it to the Order. I felt that I now had more of a purpose in life besides protecting the only remaining family member I had left, and I held on very strongly to the thought as I lay down and willed myself to sleep.

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	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This chapter is in Skye's POV. Enjoy!

Komui had started my exam shortly after my brother's; I was waiting calmly on the exam table swinging my legs in a carefree manner. The exam wasn't anything special though he had me extremely worried when he brought out a drill. Thankfully, it was just a humorous scare tactic, and the exam ended.

"You're in good shape, just as your brother," Komui said as the exam ended.

"We take care of ourselves, and Klaud wouldn't let us get too bad," I responded with a smile.

Komui smiled back as we left the exam room, "We have two more stops before you can get to your room."

"Where to, may I ask?" I questioned as we got into an elevator.

"To meet Hevlaska, then to get you sized for your uniforms," Komui informed me.

"Hevlaska?" I asked. The name was an interesting one, one you don't hear normally. This must be an important person if I had to meet them now. The elevator had stopped and before Komui answered I was taken into the air.

I shrieked as I was taken airborne by the strangest thing I'd ever seen. I tried to move but realized I was being held back, and just before I was about to activate my Innocence, an ethereal feminine voice spoke to me.

"Don't panic child. I'm not going to harm you; I just wish to see your Innocence," she said. "I am Hevlaska."

I calmed down only slightly; I could feel something moving around inside of me and it wasn't painful, just very awkward and not welcoming. I struggled a bit before I heard her speak again. "Synchronization Rate…. 97%..." she said before setting me back down next to Komui. "I didn't mean to frighten you, child. Your Innocence is very unique, just as your twin's."

I looked right at Komui. "You could have warned me about that you know," I scolded him, slapping him lightly on his arm.

"Where's the fun in that?" he laughed as the elevator moved again.

"No more surprises?" I asked wearily, my normal energy knocked down a level.

"No more surprises. I can promise you that much," Komui responded, and I sighed gratefully.

"Uniforms next, I take it?" I asked as we got back off the elevator and I followed Komui down the halls.

Before he could answer we ran into a young male, with long black hair that was tied back in a ponytail. From the way he walked and the expression on his face I could tell he wasn't one to be called friendly. But I needed an energy boost and what better way than to scare people? Before he came into hearing distance I asked Komui who he was.

He laughed lightly. "That's Kanda, another exorcist here, and not a very friendly one to be honest," he told me and I smiled nicely. Komui looked at me funny, "Don't do anything to anger him too much; he might just attack you."

"He'll have to catch me first," I muttered as he came within range. Komui called out to the Japanese male.

"Kanda!" The male stopped and eyed me strangely. "Kanda this is Skye, one of the two new exorcists here," Komui introduced.

"Che," Kanda voiced and was about to walk away when I made my move. I walked up behind him and hugged him around his neck, which made him freeze midstride.

"You know… I always had a thing for the tall, dark, mysterious types," I whispered in his ear before kissing his cheek and proceeded to skip away to where Komui was standing, laughing hysterically. When I reached him he started leading the way again, still laughing. I never did look back to check Kanda's reaction.

Komui was starting to lead us back to where I remembered Allen showing us the Science Department. "We're going to the Science Department for this?" It looked identical to the last time I was in here, but taking Allen's weird advice, I didn't move or even look at anything to make sure I didn't touch anything.

"Yep. They do the measuring and everything for your uniform here," Komui explained when as we walked in. "Johnny!" he called out. A curly haired male with glasses appeared.

"Can we fit her for a uniform?" Komui asked this Johnny.

"Sure thing, Supervisor," came the answer. "We can show her to her rooms when we're done if you like, so you can go back to the paper work you need to sign."

Komui sighed. "Can a guy get a break around here really?" he whined before turning to leave, knowing that he wouldn't be able get out of this. I laughed lightly as I turned from watching him leave to the male in front of me who was holding a measuring tape now. Where he got it from in such a short amount of time was beyond me.

"Hmmmm… What style would fit you?" He asked more to himself as I noticed a few others stand around us.

"Perhaps a uniform like Lenalee's?" someone asked.

I looked around. "Um… there's different styles?" I asked. I had only seen males uniforms so far and the one that Klaud wore, which was more than fine by me.

"Oooohhh yes! Long jackets, short jackets, skirts, pants, and different kinds of boots," Johnny rambled on.

"…Do I get a choice or do you just make one?" I asked curiously with a smile.

"You tell us what you are most comfortable in while you're fighting," Johnny answered with a strange smile.

"Hmmmmm…." I thought with a smile.

About fifteen minutes later I was walking into my room that Johnny had been nice enough to show me. Before leaving he told me that Roan's room was next door. "Thank you!" I called out, taking a moment to look around.

The room was nothing special, a plain bed, a small desk, a dresser and a small bookshelf was placed around the room. I noticed the suitcase I had when we arrived was sitting at the foot of the bed. Picking it up, I rested it on the bed and pulled out some new clothes to wear. Pulling out a simple black tank top and a black plain short pleated skirt, I went to wash up a bit before changing clothes. I donned my thigh high, golden yellow leather boots my mother had made for me just before she died, boots I always wore and even fought in; they were high-heeled, making me at least half a foot taller than my normal 5'1".

Once I was cleaned up and changed, I went to my brother's door and knocked on it. When I didn't hear an answer I tried to open it slightly. It was unlocked and as I opened it I noticed him sleeping lightly on his bed. I walked in anyways and closed the door behind me. Walking up to his bed I laid a hand on his bare shoulder. "Roan," I muttered as I shook him gently. He woke with a start, and after recognizing me, he hid his face in his pillow.

"Wake up, sleepy head!" I said as I pulled my hand back and sat on his bed.

"Don't wanna," he muttered to his pillow.

"I'll never understand how you can sleep so much," I muttered looking away. I felt the bed shift as he sat up, noticing the uniform folded nicely on the far side of his bed.

"You didn't have to get measured for a uniform?" I asked looking at it.

"Hm? No, it was already in my room," he told me as he ran his fingers through his spiky black locks.

"Ah! What the crap?! I had to get measured, but at least I got to pick my uniform out," I smiled looking at him. "And you'll have to wait to see what it looks like," I added sticking my tongue out at him. He just shrugged at the same time a knock on sounded on his door.

I looked at Roan for a second before getting up and opening the door to a young girl with short hair and had on an exorcist uniform. Looking at her face I couldn't help but notice she reminded me of Komui. _Well he has a sister if I'm not mistaken, perhaps this is her._

"Hi! Sorry to interrupt. I'm Lenalee and I was coming to see if you two wanted to come to the cafeteria for dinner?" the girl voiced. _So I was right_, I thought.

"Food… doesn't sound half bad," I muttered and looked behind me at Roan who was now standing, still shirtless from his sleeping. "What you think brother?" I asked.

"Sure," he muttered, going to grab a shirt; I looked back with a smile which soon died when I saw the look the girl was giving Roan. _Hmmm so she likes what she sees, does she_, I thought as I moved in front of her eye sight.

"We'll be there in a few. I remember how to get there from when Allen showed us," I told her; my normally nice voice was replaced by cold steel. Lenalee seemed to be smart enough to pick up on my tone as she nodded before leaving…

I knew then I wasn't going to like her much… not even a little bit…

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I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Read and review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Another post from Roan. Enjoy!

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"Welcome!" A chorus of cheerful voices greeted us. I must admit, even I was pleasantly surprised, and Skye was just as touched because she hid her face in my arm until she finished recovering.

A blushing Lenalee walked up to us after a moment and handed us a pair of coffee mugs with our initials on them, and we both thanked her, Skye with noticeably forced politeness.

"And now, we eat and party!" Komui exclaimed and the festivities took off. The cafeteria tables were set up buffet style, and I grabbed a couple of plates and made my way around each table, Skye following close behind.

Once I finished loading up, I spotted Allen sitting at a table nearby and headed in his direction. When I sat down and greeted the white haired kid, he introduced me to a red-headed male with an eye patch over his right eye that was sitting directly across from him.

"Lavi, this is Roan and Skye, the new exorcists." Lavi threw a casual wave in my direction which I returned, and then he froze when he saw my sister. I was even more perplexed at his reaction when his entire face turned beet red, and I could practically see his eyes turn heart shaped as he became smitten.

My sister was oblivious to his reaction at first, but when she eventually recognized the look he was giving her, she immediately got an all too familiar glint in her eye.

She moved around to the other side of the table and sat down next to him. "You seemed a little lonely over here so I thought I might rescue you by ridding you of your solitude," she said, leaning into his form slightly.

He just about melted on the spot, and just before my sister delivered the killing blow, a sulking Kanda passed by our table and made an audible noise he tried to pass off as indifference. "Don't be jealous, Kanda," Skye teasingly called out to Kanda. "You're still the original owner of the key to my passionate heart."

Lavi's mouth dropped in disbelief as he watched Kanda continue walking as if he hadn't heard a thing. When Kanda was out of sight, Skye diverted her attention back to Lavi, and she immediately became concerned at the mini thunder storm he seemed to be drawing in directly over his head.

"What's wrong, Lavi? Was it something you ate?" She patted him on the back in genuine concern, and I could only shake my head in mild amusement at her antics.

"Is your sister always like this?" Allen questioned with mild hilarity. I nodded, mouth too crammed with food to submit a verbal reply.

The rest of the party passed by with many people stopping by our table to greet 'the twins', as we had been officially dubbed. We got to meet a few of the other exorcists that weren't away on missions already, namely Bookman, Miranda Lotto, and Alystar Krory. They were an altogether amusing lot, imparting upon us various warnings and anecdotes about experiences from the past. I just smiled and nodded politely, taking in everything they were saying with unbiased ears.

By the time the party actually ended, I was pleasantly exhausted, and I piggy-backed a sleeping Skye back up to her room. When I dropped her off in her room, she woke up long enough to bid me goodnight before rolling over and knocking out cold, and I headed to my own room to follow suit.

"Roan," a voice seemingly whispered as I rapidly gained consciousness from a deep sleep. I could feel a hand on my shoulder, shaking me gently. "Get up, bro. The supervisor has a mission for us. Can you believe it? Our first real mission!"

"Don't wanna." It came out as more of a muffled grunt than anything else, but she got the hint regardless.

"Maybe you didn't hear me right. We've. Got. A. Mission. This could be our chance to do some research for our own personal mission..." And then it registered. I woke up with a flurry of movement and almost fell off the bed in a mixture of haste and mild disorientation. Skye giggled and I stuck my tongue out at her as I made my way into the washroom to take a shower.

After I came out, squeaky clean and fully garbed in the knee high boots, black trousers and red and black uniform overcoat, we made our way to the science department for the mission brief.

"Ah! Roan, Skye, you're here now," the Supervisor said by way of greeting as we entered his forever cluttered office. "As I'm sure you're aware by now, I have a mission for you. According to finders situated in Venice, there has been a strange phenomenon occurring around a vast body of water. Apparently there seems to be a giant water elemental terrorizing the citizens there.

"I believe that there may be an Innocence Fragment behind this strange occurrence. Your job is to explore the lake and determine the reason behind the elemental, and retrieve any Innocence that might appear."

"Understood," we replied in unison.

"If you have no further preparations, you are to depart immediately."

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Whoo! The story is well on its way. Hope you all are enjoying it so far. R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

The train dropped us of in the northern part of Venice, and I paused the second I stepped out of the train station to take in the view. It was a beautiful city, with lovely buildings completely surrounded by water. The sun was almost setting in the sky, giving the city an even more magical ambience. Then something hit me; we were looking for a phenomenon involved in water… and there was water… everywhere.

"Roan…" I muttered as he walked up next to me.

"Hm?"

"How are we going to find a water phenomenon when the city is basically water?" I asked. By the look on his face, he seemed to see my point right away.

"You must be the exorcists I'm expecting," called a voice from our right. We turned to see a man dressed in the usual garb of a finder, with his hood up and the lower half of his face covered in wrappings. "My name's Toma. I'm the finder who's been in charge of this area."

My brother and I nodded in greeting as he continued. "The phenomenon that has been occurring here has appeared in both bodies of water located on each side of the city as well as the canal running through the city itself. It normally appears when Akuma are around, which it in turn destroys. I have yet to see it with my own eyes, but I have seen the Akuma being attacked and destroyed but what looked like powerful jets of water."

"Might as well begin scoping out the borders and the canal," Roan said and I nodded.

"I'll take the canal; I can search through it directly a lot easier and faster," I told him with a smile, and he nodded.

"I'll take the western border and meet you at the end of the canal. We'll go and check the other side together after that," he said. I nodded and looked at Toma.

"Stay here. If you see the elemental, use the golem to contact us," I told him. He nodded, and Roan and I took off.

In order to trigger the necessary speed to skate over the water, I had to activate my innocence to level two. Doing so, I felt the black, three inch band-like markings around my right wrist change, going from a smooth, flat surface with silver tribal writing, to the top part of my wrist shifting outward creating a small peep-like hole. The rest of my body felt lighter and the world moved a whole lot slower.

As soon as the change was complete, I took off across the water. None of those within the city or even those in the canal itself would see me. If they saw anything it would be only a blur and a water trail left from my feet.

As I was moving across the water I looked everywhere I could think of; in the water, on the surface, on the docks, for anything out of the ordinary. During my scouting, I accidently tipped over a small boat on the water from the force of my wake. Thankfully the one person that was in the boat was okay, if a little soaked and confused, as he surfaced and looked around bewildered. I was mildly surprised that there was anyone in the canal in the first place. Not many people were out by the docks. I wasn't sure if it was because of recent events or if it was the lateness of the hour.

"Oh man… There's no way can I let Roan know I just did that," I muttered to myself as I continued.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, nothing at all, as I continued my search through the rest of the canal. Just as I was about to hit the end of the canal, a giant mass of movement in the sky drew my attention. Looking up, I spotted a group of level one Akuma heading towards the city. I took off as fast as I could towards them, body thrumming from the anticipation of a good fight. Before I could even lift off the surface of the water they were being shot down by random blasts of water.

When I finally made it to the end of the canal I saw just what was taking these akuma down. Standing in the middle of the gulf was something that looked like a naked woman whose body was made purely of water, and directly in the middle of her chest was a familiar, glowing green crystal…

I knew it was the Innocence we sought, but what I couldn't figure out was how in the hell was I going to get it out of her?

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And another chappy posted! The next chapter will give you more of a taste of what Skye's powers are as well as her brother's. R&R!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Another post from Roan. Enjoy!

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I took to the rooftops as soon as our group split up. It was hard to actually focus on searching for something that could possibly be the mysterious phenomenon when the beauty of the city was calling out to me, but I somehow managed.

From our meeting point in Chiara, I veered south with the intent to zigzag back and forth through my portion of the city to cover as much ground as possible. From time to time I had to resort to jumping to the ground and crossing bridges that accessed another part of the city if the jump from the rooftops seemed to be too far to manage.

I was around Carmini when Skye's voice crackled through my golem. "Um… I think I found it. And you might want to come quick because it doesn't seem to like me and my arrows don't seem to be working."

"On my way," I responded as I landed on another rooftop. "Innocence: activate level three. Wings of Thunder." The transformation was instantaneous; both my hands and feet became clawed and the entire length of my arms and legs rippled over with the hardened ridges of black dragon scales. A medium length, barb-tipped tail sprouted from my lower back at the same time that leathery, smoky-black wings emerged from between my shoulder blades, and I gave them an experimental flutter before crouching low to the ground in preparation to launch.

With the added speed this form gave me, it seemed that the world was waiting on baited breath as I leapt into the sky. It took less than a minute for me to locate Skye; because of the unique bond we shared we could locate each other faster and more efficiently than was done verbally and once I located her unique signature, I slightly adjusted my route and sped off in her direction.

When I arrived to the scene of the fight, I landed on a building that was the closest one situated to the canal. What caught me off guard was not the sight of the phenomenon of a water elemental, but the sight of Skye skating across the water with only one boot on, dodging random jets of water being shot at her by said elemental, and retaliating occasionally with a random shot with an arrow. When she caught sight of me, she disappeared for a split second before reappearing directly next to me, breathing heavily.

The elemental began looking around confusedly, searching for its missing target. I could spot a tiny, brightly glowing object centered directly in her chest area, and I assumed that it was the Innocence we were looking for.

"She's a beast, that one," Skye huffed. "Took my damn boot."

"How the heck did she get it in the first place?" I asked, trying and failing to hold in a grin.

"Well, apparently anything that touches her body gets sucked into it and stays there. It was either my entire body or just the boot, and I think I made the right decision."

"And your arrows have no effect?"

She shook her head slowly in response. "She just absorbs them and disperses the energy throughout her body, no matter where I shoot them at."

"I think I might have an idea, but I need to test and see if my shockwaves will work against her since we already know physical attacks wont."

"I'll keep her distracted while you load up your cannon," Skye said before taking off in a blur of speed again. She became visible once more around where the feet of the elemental would be if the lower portion of its body didn't meld into the water below. "Lightning's Barrage!" she cried before unleashing a continuous volley of arrows that seemed to do nothing more than further infuriate the elemental.

I took the opportunity to position myself above her head. Forming a vee with my hands by pressing the bottoms of my palms together and aiming the tips of my claws outwards, I began to transfer a copious amount of energy into the small space my hands were cupped around.

I cast a quick glance in Skye's direction; she was in the middle of her second Lightning's barrage and I knew that the attack was taking its toll on her because I could actually see her physical form when she darted around instead of a blur of shadow.

The pressure of my ball of energy had finally reached its peak. "Shockwave Cannon!" I roared, aiming towards the elemental's chest area as I released the attack. A dark, rippling current rent through the air and struck the being right on target, the force of the explosion leaving a gaping hole in its wake. I almost cried out with triumph until I saw the hole close over with more water within a few seconds of it being made.

I flew back towards my previous perch, mind working furiously to figure out a way to retrieve the Innocence. Skye appeared beside me once more, just as I came up with a solution.

"You ready to try something high-risk?" I asked her as she combed her wet hair out of her face with her fingers.

"It wouldn't truly be fun if it wasn't high-risk," she smirked. I explained the plan as in depth as I could in a short amount of time, and Skye was practically bouncing with excitement as I finished. "Let's do it!"

We repeated the same procedure as before, her drawing attention with her Lightning's Barrage and me positioning myself above the elemental. The difference this time around was that just before the pressure peaked, Skye zipped away from the water and situated herself just behind me, taking a firm grip on my tail spike. The second after I unleashed the blast, I spun around three times, and on the third spin I launched Skye directly behind the shockwave.

My heart skipped a beat as I watched and waited to see what the outcome would be. My shockwave cannon did its job of creating a whole that went clean through the elemental's chest, and the timing of Skye's release was dead on as her hand closed around the Innocence fragment. I panicked when the hole was once again filled up with water with Skye still in it, and I calmed down slightly when I realized that the entire makeup of the elemental was simply falling apart. It was after all of the water splashed back into the canal and Skye didn't resurface that I started to panic once more.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, zooming down to the still rippling surface of the water.

"What? What happened?" came a soaking Skye's voice from directly behind me as she peered over my shoulders to see what I was looking at.

I'll be the first to admit that I jumped about a mile high from her scaring me like that, but I was too relieved at the moment to worry about being embarrassed. The light seeping through the small cracks of her fingers was even more reassurance that the mission was a complete success.

"That was fun!" she exclaimed, vigorously shaking off the excess water she acquired from the fight. "And I got my boot back!" She held up the soaking wet article and grinned happily. All I could do was shake my head and laugh.

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What do you think of the story so far? I won't really know unless you leave a review, so get to it!


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